


Once Doomed

by orphan_account



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Jim has seen all of his friends die, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Troll Jim Lake Jr., i don't know how to tag this and i need help, i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-07 23:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Everyone was dead. Draal. Barbara. Strickler. Aaarrrgghh. Claire. Blinky. Toby.And - by Gunmar's sword - so was Jim.Well, that is until Jim wakes up in bed with the light not causing him pain. It's then that Jim got what he asked for; a do-over. A chance to stop everyone from dying. Now, Jim's just got to get stuff right.





	1. 0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim fights Gunmar - alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i accidentally deleted the first draft of this, so whoops! so here it is again in all it's short glory, i swear, the chapters won't all be this short. 
> 
> anyways - this came from my head after finishing season three a couple of days ago. originally, Jim was just going to go back in time just because but that didn't really make any sense to me so i changed it. then this version came about and right when i sat down to continue writing the second chapter/first chapter, another idea came about. this one being like the first with there being two Jims, one human and one half-troll. who knows, maybe i'll write that version later when i figure out how that would exactly work.
> 
> anyway, i don't really know how to tag this properly so if you have any suggestions that would be awesome.
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Letting go of his weapon - a red and black sword dubbed Eclipse - and letting it disappear, the Trollhunter leaped behind a dumpster. His wound making him wince, hands flying to his stomach where he had been cut only minutes before. The Trollhunter had been surprised to have been able to find a place that wasn’t on fire or littered with the remains of Gumm-Gumms or trolls alike. The world was in chaos. 

It had only been hours before, when the fight had just begun, that the Trollhunter learned that they wouldn’t be able to finish this fight without some casualties. He just hadn’t suspected this many or who had died. 

The Trollhunter shook his head, right now was not the time to mourn; he would do that when the battle was over, when the world was safe once more. 

A sickening laugh knocked the Trollhunter even more back into reality. “Come out, come out, little Trollhunter.” The deranged voice of Gunmar rang throughout the alley where the Trollhunter had taken refuge. Gunmar was the leader of the Gumm-Gumms and thus so, he was after the Trollhunter. “Your friends can’t save you this time, now can they?” Gunmar was talking about the time that the Trollhunter had gone into the Darklands with his friends and - with help from his friends - had escaped with his life. 

There was a crashing sound, allowing the Trollhunter to know where Gunmar was in the alley. The Trollhunter quietly cursed to himself, there was no way he would be able to get away from Gunmar with the injury the Trollhunter currently had. Not to mention that even if he did defeat Gunmar, there was still a chance that Merlin wouldn’t be able to defeat Morgana and the Trollhunter would have to do that as well. 

“Do you wish to know what your friends had said before I killed them?” Gunmar questioned, and from how it sounded so loud, the Trollhunter could say that he was probably right on top (more of like behind) the dumpster. “‘Jim will stop you!’ That’s what they said. I laughed in their faces as I slaughtered each and every them.” 

Yes, that was right. The Trollhunter’s name was Jim; such a human name for a troll. Although, Jim had been human roughly three days ago. That’s not all that important right now though; Jim had much better things to think about. Like how not to die to Gunmar. 

Well, whatever plans Jim had been thinking about were thrown right out the metaphorical window as soon as Gunmar’s hand reached Jim’s neck. Jim’s hand instantly flew from his torso to his neck, clawing at Gunmar’s hand. The attempt at trying to get the large, rocky hand off of his neck was futile for Gunmar tossed the small Trollhunter away not too long after grabbing him. 

Jim heard the crashing of glass and something hit his back; probably the wall of the other side of the building if anything. Wobbly standing up, Jim took out Eclipse once more, holding the sword in the four fingered hand while his other hand (the one with five fingers, somehow) held onto his wound that spread across his torso. Being thrown through a window probably hadn’t helped much with the wounds that littered Jim’s stone body but there wasn’t really a way to rest up and heal during the middle of a war. 

Jim craned his neck, allowing himself to see - if only a little - the red amulet attached to his chest. “I need you to pull me through time again, Merlin.” He whispered to the object. Like most objects, the amulet did not respond. “You did it before when I wasn’t sure that I was the right choice for the Trollhunter; I need you to do it again now so I can defeat Gunmar. With my injuries-” Pulling back his hand, Jim stared at the red blotch of blood that mixed with the black and red armor on his hand, “-there isn’t any way for me to really defeat Gunmar. At this point, I’m just his moving punching bag!” Jim didn’t allow the amulet to know the other reason he wanted a do-over; although, it was plain to see that he wanted a chance to save his friends. 

The amulet didn’t give off any indication that it would allow Jim to traverse time once more. 

“Fine.”

Jim used Eclipse to sturdy himself as he watched Gunmar jump from roof to roof to get to him. Jumping across rooftops was probably faster than trying to figure out how to walk to Jim anyway. If Jim was going to die to Gunmar, he wasn’t going down without a fight. Though, there was no knowing how long Jim would last with his injuries. Sure, he was a troll now but according to the blood seeping through the cracks in his armor, Jim still bled like a human. It just seemed harder to make Jim bleed. That hadn’t seemed to be a big problem to Gunmar with his sword in mind; it seemed to strong enough to cut through both Jim’s armor and skin. 

Gunmar laughed as glass crunched beneath his feet and hands. “Still standing, I see. That should change fast.” 

It took Jim far too long for him to raise his sword to block Gunmar’s attack completely; that was probably due to the fact that Jim had only been using one hand to wield Eclipse and not the two he usually had. Quickly correcting his stance - both hands now on Eclipse’s handle - Jim raised his sword to block whatever Gunmar’s next attack would be. There was no saying that Jim would even be able to attack Gunmar in with his injuries but Jim was certainly going to try; after he blocked Gunmar’s next attack, of course. 

Thankfully, Gunmar was cocky enough to attack Jim without another thought. There was a small opening from when Gunmar attacked and when he was getting ready to attack; that was when Jim would strike. That was when Jim would use all of his strength to attack Gunmar. 

And that’s what Jim did; attack Gunmar with all the strength that Jim had left in him. 

A fire spread throughout Jim’s torso and he couldn’t feel his toes no longer. Well, as it turns out, Jim was not fast enough to attack when Gunmar was vulnerable. Jim could only glance down at the sword stabbing through him and he could only expect to see the other end of it on the other side of his body. Gunmar had won. Morgana had won. The newly resurrected Angor Rot had won. 

The Trollhunter was dead. Turning to stone and bleeding out right in front of Gunmar as he laughed chaotically. Jim was the last to go it seemed, everyone else that had been apart of his little group had died either before or during the Eternal Night. 

Draal had been the first to go; turned to stone by the sun that lit up the museum that held Killahead Bridge the night of the play. Draal had succeeded in removing the amulet from the bridge, giving Jim and the others longer to grow stronger to be able to defeat Gunmar, before he had crumbled before Jim. 

The next to go had been Jim’s mother - Barbara - and Strickler. The binding spell that Strickler had placed on Barbara and himself wasn’t removed fast enough; Angor Rot had gotten to Strickler before Jim had. Jim had been parentless then. He had spent the rest of his days down in Trollmarket, avoiding the world above. Jim hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone then. Blinky had been the one to suggest that Jim use his sadness and anger to fight Angor Rot. The five of them had been successful in turning Angor Rot to stone in return. 

That was when Jim had decided it was finally time to go into the Darklands to find Claire’s baby brother - Enrique - alone. He had, fortunately, been stopped by the others before jumping in. That lead Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Toby, and Claire to join Jim in going to the Darklands. Only four of them returned. Aaarrrgghh, in an attempt to save Jim, was forced to turn back to Gunmar’s side by the stupid sword that Gunmar had. 

It wasn’t until Gunmar attacked Trollmarket that they knew that he had gotten out of the Darklands. Every troll had to be evacuated; using the gyre seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t until Gunmar and Usurna closed the gyre that they had a problem. Claire had had a good idea to use the staff she had gotten from Angor Rot to open a portal for the rest of the trolls. Opening the portal had taken a toll on her but that wasn’t what killed her. Morgana, the staff’s owner and rival to Merlin, had decided that Claire was the perfect vessel to possess. Without anyway for Jim, Toby, and Blinky to get Claire out of the Shadowland (or whatever it was called), it was either kill Claire to stop Morgana from creating the Eternal Night too soon or allow her to do just that. It was Blinky who had volunteered to do so. 

Toby, against others suggestions, started to practice using the staff but only to create emergency portals. He just as bad at it as Claire was when she first started using it; if not worse. 

Blinky, Toby, and Jim soon learned about Gunmar’s plan to get the Staff of Avalon. Using Aaarrrgghh as an emotional link, Toby used a portal to get them near to the staff. It had turned out that magic didn’t work in the cave that the staff was held in, allowing Aaarrrgghh to break free of Gunmar’s control. Fortunately, that had happened before the three of them had portaled to the green, friendly giant. Aaarrrgghh was the one who informed them that Angor Rot was back. Aaarrrgghh was also the one who had taken the hit for Jim; turning the moss covered troll to stone. Jim turned Angor Rot back to stone soon after in the rage that followed the fall of Aaarrrgghh. 

The three emotionally drained heroes found Merlin soon after and thus so brought him back to the empty house Jim and Barbara once shared. It wasn’t too long after that that Merlin made a potion of sorts that transformed Jim into a half troll. That was the only way Jim was to defeat Gunmar after all; although, it didn’t seem to do anything about it. 

Blinky and Toby had died at the same time more or less, both during the Eternal Night. Jim didn’t know exactly when but he did find the shattered face of Blinky and Toby’s war hammer near it. The armor Merlin had made for Toby didn’t seem to have done anything to protect him from the terrors that were the Gumm-Gumms. 

Jim didn’t know what happened the blasted wizard that had made this all possible; that had created the amulet in the first place; that had turned Jim into a troll. Jim suspected that Merlin was bested by Morgana in combat or something of the sort. Merlin was just a human with a really extensive knowledge of magic and trolls without his own magic after all; Morgana had taken that from him. 

The last to go was Jim. You knew how that had happened. 

 

An annoying beep that came from most common alarm clocks made Jim snap his eyes open. 


	2. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim wakes up with sunlight in his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can i just say, i am seriously proud of myself. i haven't written this many words without the help of something before. can i also say, i was not expecting this to get so long - i was expecting 4k words or something. also, i wasn't expecting it to be this short of an amount of time between chapters. 
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Jim snapped his eyes open, sunlight pouring into the room. Instantly, Jim stood up, backing himself into the closest corner to get away from the sun. The alarm clock was still blaring loudly in his ears, making him groan in annoyance. The alarm clock was right in front of the window that was open and it would be near impossible to get to it without the sunlight touching him. Although, the curtain was right beside the bed Jim currently stood on; he could always try to close it. That also lead to the possibility that Jim would pull the curtain too far to one side, allowing the sunlight to hit him. 

Jim stopped what he was doing (aka, hiding in the corner) when he noticed just exactly what room he was in; it was his room. The posters above the bed, the Vespa handlebars and lamp above the window, the bookshelf beside the door; it was all Jim’s. The sight of his own room made him just stare off at it. Jim had just been fighting (and dying) in some half-destroyed building. 

A groan from outside of Jim’s room alerted him that he wasn’t alone in the house. “Jim, honey, can you turn your alarm off? I had to work late and I would really like to sleep in more.” That was Barbara’s voice - Jim’s mum’s voice. She was alive. 

Jim jumped off the bed, knocking the alarm clock down whilst doing so; ignoring the sunlight streaming from the open window. Jim auto-piloted to his mum’s room, ignoring the note on the door that said what she had just told him. The door opened with a soft sound and there she was. Ginger hair a mess and eyes squinting shut from the light.

Barbara groaned again. “Jim.” She pulled a pillow over her head.

“Mum,” Jim breathed out, almost not believing that it was her in the bed. “I- sorry, I didn’t really have the best sleep last night must’ve slept through a bit of my alarm.” Jim pulled back the door, closing it with just as soft as a sound as he had opened it with. 

That was when Jim noticed his hand, it was fleshy and soft. It still had four fingers but it looked like skin instead of rock. Jim’s eyes widened, realizing what had just happened. Rushing from the hallway to the bathroom, Jim flashed the light on. 

In the mirror was Jim, but not the Jim that had just been fighting Gunmar only minutes before but the Jim he was before he met Merlin; before Jim was the Trollhunter. The scars on Jim’s face he had gotten from rescuing Claire from the goblins (albeit, they weren’t there unless you were really looking for them) were gone and the bruises that always littered his face were nowhere to be seen. Raising his hands, Jim studied them as much as he had his face. One was still the same old fleshy hand he had had before - five fingers and all - while the other was fleshy but only contained (that sounds like it was a container, but no, it’s not) only four. The four fingered hand didn’t look like one had only been cut off though, it looked as if Jim had been born with only four fingers on that hand. Jim’s right hand looked exactly like it had when he was a troll, except less solid rock and more skin. 

Jim felt weird, not wearing his armor, but it almost felt like a good weird. He wasn’t weighed down by the heavy armor he once wore. Wait, where was-

“The amulet!” Jim exclaimed, patting his body all over for the small object that seemed to have sent him back in time. 

It wasn’t until Jim patted the right side of his chest, where the amulet would sit if he was in his armor. The amulet was under his shirt, which didn’t really make much sense to Jim. Now that he thought about it, the amulet would be with Kanjigar’s remains (or just Kanjigar since Jim didn’t really know what day it was but it was obvious it was before he became the Trollhunter), not with Jim. Curious, Jim pulled off his shirt, the amulet shining red against the pale blue of rock. The amulet was wielded to Jim’s body, the blue rock of when he was a troll surrounding it and going around his whole torso and shoulder. A mark where Jim had been injured proudly presenting itself darker than the rest of the blue rock. Gently touching the scar proved it was just as hard as the rest of Jim’s torso. 

“Okay?” Jim trailed on, running his fingers (all nine of them) over the hard rock that was now his torso. “So, I went back in time but it didn’t erase every trace of the past - er - future. Good to know. Just can’t take my shirt off in front of anyone.” 

Sliding his shirt back on, Jim exited the bathroom. Heading back to his room, Jim stopped before getting too close to the window. Jim stuck his hand out, wiggling it around in the sunlight. There was no pain that was usually there when he entered sunlight; Jim guessed it was because of the fact that he wasn’t fully a troll right now. He wondered if he took off his shirt in the sunlight if the rock on his torso would turn to stone, Jim didn’t exactly want to take the chance. 

Sitting back down onto the bed and pulling his phone off of his desk, Jim checked the date. The day he had first gotten the amulet stared right back at Jim through the phone screen; as well as a text from Toby. Just like Jim had been with his mum, he was over the moon with the fact that Toby was still alive; that was to be expected though, none of Jim’s friends and family had been pulled into the chaos that had found itself a way into Jim’s life. 

_ Don’t forget to make yourself lunch, Jimbo! Can’t believe you forgot yesterday. _

Jim didn’t recall forgetting to make himself lunch the day before he got the amulet, then again, that had been almost a year ago for him. Jim shook his head - this day had to go exactly as it had been before. Jim had seen what would happen if he didn’t get the amulet and he did not want that happening. So, Jim made his way down to the kitchen to make food for his mum, Toby, and himself. Although, Jim did pack himself so utensils (ones his mum wouldn’t miss, they had plenty of forks and tiny spoons) in case his taste buds didn’t return to what they were before. Jim would just lie and say they were some sort of gummy candy, that way if Toby asked for any he wouldn’t figure out that they were actually metal. 

Jim quickly got ready for the day but then groaned. He had just finished school and now he had to go through it all over again. Not to mention that finding a reason not to change for gym would be terribly hard; he could always just go into the washroom to do that though. Shaking his head, Jim figured he would just figure the more complicated stuff out once he got to school. 

Toby stood just outside of the garage, just like he did back then. Toby complained about how the food Jim made was going to make them late, just like he did back then. This was the third time Jim had gone through this day, he knew what happened fairly well. What was new though, was what Toby yelled to Jim after they had started to pedal towards the canal. 

“Sorry about texting you so early in the morning! I had a dream where you forgot to make lunch for yourself and then the world went into chaos and all that weird stuff. Guess I sorta thought the beginning was real or something, I was in a state of tiredness so you can’t really blame me,” Toby explained from behind Jim. 

“It’s fine, Tobes! I didn’t even notice it until I woke up!” Jim laughed. Well, there was one thing that was already different. “Now, come on, we gotta get to the can- the school!” Jim quickly corrected himself. He could really care less about school, right now he just really hoped that the amulet (the blue one, not the red one stuck to his chest) was still there. 

The canal was empty of Bular but the remains of Kanjigar were still there. Jim could barely see the glow that the blue amulet emulated from under a piece of Kanjigar. Thankfully, the amulet was still there. 

“ _ James Lake. _ ” It called to Jim much like it did the first time Jim had gone through today. 

Jim bent down beside the crumbled remains of Kanjigar, grazing his right hand over the stone. “I won’t fail this time,” He whispered to the stone, “I’ll defeat Gunmar this time, without anyone dying. I promise, Kanjigar.” 

It was at that time that Toby bent over towards Jim, taking a close look at the amulet in the taller boy’s hands. “Whatcha got there, Jimbo?” 

Jim, having not expected his friend to join him on the ground of the canal and just keep going to school, jumped back a bit; startled from how close Toby had been. Shaking his head, Jim decided to fake ignorance at what he had in his hands. “I don’t know,” Jim announced as he examined the amulet for what was probably the thousandth time (he had examined the amulet on numerous occasions), “some sort of amulet, I think.”  Hopefully Jim’s acting skills were still just as good as they had been when he had done the play with Claire, even if he hadn’t really been in the mood to do so. 

“Jim, come on, that was the final bell!” Toby called out from far ahead of Jim as the ginger got on his bike once more.

Jim placed the amulet in his pocket (it was safer there than it was in his bag, then maybe Strickler wouldn’t be able to tell that Jim was the Trollhunter right away, the amulet had fallen out of his bag after all, or something. Unless Strickler had learned that Jim was the Trollhunter some other way, like from Bular - crap, Jim was going to have to fight Bular again, wasn’t he?) and got back onto his bike. The trek to the school wasn’t too far away now. Though, now that Jim had seen Kanjigar’s remains, a new thought had sprouted into his head. Would Jim be a troll or a human while being the Trollhunter? Well, he was just going to have to see. Jim didn’t really have too big of a curiosity about it to jump back off his bike, yell the magic words, and startle Toby in the process, to figure it out. Not to mention, Jim did not want to be late for his first day back at school; not to mention he still had to talk with Claire.

Claire, she was going to be at school. Toby and Barbara were alive so that meant Claire was too. Oh, Jim’s day at school may not be as he would expect it to be. How did one explain to another that, in the future, they started dating only for her to die to some crazy witch named Morgana who wanted to kill everyone? Yeah, it was probably best not to tell Claire anything about what happened in the past for Jim; well, it would technically be considered the future. Time travel is a confusing concept. 

Now that Jim thought about it, Strickler was also going to be there. Jim was going to have to try really hard not to give off any indication that Jim knew that the teacher was a changeling. Jim was also going to have to try really,  _ really,  _ hard not to kill Strickler. The guy had binded himself and Jim’s mother together which had just gotten the two of them killed; oh, and not to mention tried to kill Jim on multiple occasions. Jim really hoped that he was as good as an actor as Miss Janeth had thought. 

 

School almost seemed different to Jim for some odd reason; he couldn’t exactly place his finger on what made it seem different though. It could be because the last time Jim saw the school it was thoroughly destroyed; windows smashed, walls with giant holes in them, you name the destruction and the school probably had it. That and there were many more people in the school than there had been when Jim had last explored (more like used as a hiding place from Gunmar while Jim tended to the smaller wounds he had gotten). 

Strickler’s class, from what Jim remembered, was the same. Except this time, Jim wasn’t distracted from his work by Claire or the fact that he had just gotten the amulet for the first time. This time, Jim was distracted by the fact that he had to figure out how to stop everyone from dying this time around. Jim didn’t feel like redoing these years even more than he had already. Although from everyone who didn’t know what was going on in Jim’s mind, he just seemed like he was staring at Claire; for appearances sake. Not that Jim didn’t mind staring at Claire, it wasn’t wrong for him to find his girlfriend (er, the girlfriend that Jim had in the future) attractive. 

Toby groaning snapped Jim out of his thoughts; snapping the Trollhunter back into reality. “I seriously can’t find anything about that amulet you found,” Toby explained as the ginger turned his computer for Jim to see, “all that’s coming up are toys. One of them was even plush!”

Jim frowned in annoyance, it almost seemed as if nothing about this day had changed yet - except for the fact that Jim knew exactly what was going to happen; more or less. Jim waved, “Don’t worry about it, Tobes.” Tapping his pocket, Jim checked to make sure the amulet hadn’t fallen out during his trek to the class. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out about it later.” Jim sent his ginger headed friend a small smile of reassurance. Jim knew it wasn’t going to be long before Blinky and Aaarrrgghh came to find him. 

Jim was sent back into his thoughts once more by the fact that both he and Toby had found the amulet once again. Jim still didn’t know if he wanted to get his human friends involved again; the last time that had happened things didn’t really turn out so good. Images of Claire with pitch black eyes - glowing yellow pupils accompanying them - tied to a chair, and the face of Blinky next to Toby’s war hammer, flashed through Jim’s mind. 

“Jim,” Strickler, once again, was able to get Jim to pay attention to the class by knocking the boy out of his thoughts, “would you agree?” 

Jim shook his head, trying his best to hide the scowl that might form the longer he looked at Strickler. “Sir?” Jim questioned, trying to act like he didn’t really know what was going on. Really, Jim had known somewhat of what was going on, but not completely. This was only his third time going through this day and the last time he had gone through it Jim had snapped at Strickler. Jim didn’t really want that to happen this time. 

Strickler gave Jim a face of concern and what seemed to be disappointment. “With Herodotus’ opinion on his tactics of war, as I’ve described.” Strickler explained more.

“I,” Jim froze. What had he said the first time he had gone through this day? Jim had agreed right? Although, Strickler didn’t explain what tactics. “I agree with the tactics that meant that Herodotus would most likely win?” Jim even questioned what he had just said. Really, improversation was harder than it seemed. Especially when you have a teacher who could probably easily kill you (maybe? Jim didn’t know if he would still hold a fight against Strickler again yet) right in front of you. 

Strickler gave a soft sigh as the bell rung. Turning to the rest of the students, Strickler raised his voice so they could all hear throughout the bustling sounds of kids leaving class. “All right, all right. Don’t forget Michaelson, chapters four and five.” Strickler brought the book he was holding closer to his chest, giving an even more concerned look to Jim.

Jim wanted to scream out the fact that Strickler shouldn’t be looking at him like that. The boy in front of Strickler was the Trollhunter. Someone one of Strickler’s coworkers (boss? Jim didn’t know the exact area of power Strickler was in against Bular’s) was currently looking to kill. Not only that but Strickler had gotten Jim’s mum killed! Although, hopefully, Jim could prevent that this time. 

“Jim,” Strickler started softly as he looked towards the boy, “may I have a word?” 

Jim gave a nod as he started to pack up his items; unfortunately, knocking down his back and spilling its contents all over the floor. Seriously, this was the second time this had happened. At least the amulet hadn’t been in Jim’s bag, he was pretty sure that was how Strickler had found out so fast that Jim was the Trollhunter. Unless it was another incident that had clued Strickler in. Jim still didn’t know how the teacher had figured it out, nor did he really know when. Right now, Jim was just guessing. 

Strickler, much like he had before, started to help Jim pick up the books he had dropped. “Jim,” He began just as softly as he had before, “you’re distracted.” Strickler sent Jim a small frown as the boy fixed his bag. “You fell asleep between the invasion of Attica and the Peace of Nicias, and your attention wandered for the rest of the class.” 

Jim sent Strickler an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” Jim apologized, more so about the zoning out during class than the fact that Strickler was just about to be Jim’s enemy. “I didn’t exactly have the best sleep, you know, nightmares and all that.” A nightmare would be an accurate description of what Jim had just gone through. If only it was just that; but Jim knew it wasn’t. Not only because of the scarred rock and the Eclipse Amulet stuck to his chest but because, so far, everything had happened the exact same way it had in the beginning of said nightmare. 

Once again, a look of concern spread across Strickler’s face. “I know it’s just you and your mother and that you want to help her but nightmares are a sign that you are stressed beyond belief.” Strickler’s hand found itself placed upon Jim’s shoulder - thankfully the one not covered in rock - as Jim looked down at the ground to avoid looking his teacher in the face.

Stressed? Yeah, one could call Jim that. Especially now that he knew that if even just one of his friends died it could set off a whole chain reaction of all of his friends dying. They would fall, like dominos. Then, when the fight with Gunmar came around at the end of the school year (if the Gumm-Gumm Troll would wait that long this time), Jim would die to that blasted sword once more. 

Jim looked back up to face Strickler. “I’m sorry, Mister Strickler,  but she’s just really tired when she gets home. She’s started to work double shifts again.” 

Strickler gave a soft sigh and pulled out a pad of sticky notes. “I believe I am overdue with a conversation with your mother,” Strickler handed Jim the top sticky note, which Jim knew had Strickler’s number and name on it. “Please, have her call me. And if you ever feel inclined to talk to someone, my door is always open.” 

“I,” Jim looked over the sticky note, reading it carefully as if he was about to try to remember Strickler’s number so Jim could call every number off the top of his head. “Yeah, I’ll do that.” Jim had no intention of giving the sticky note to his mother, that would just cause Strickler and her to meet sooner than later. Although, Angor Rot had only come out of hiding (where even had the troll assassin been before?) until after Bular had been defeated. Jim would have to think about if he was going to Strickler’s number to Barbara. Jim shook his head. “I should get to my next class, it was nice to talking to you, Mister Strickler.” Jim shoved the sticky note into his pocket before moving towards the door. 

“Oh, and if you fancy Miss Nunez, I submit that talking to will be much more effective than staring at,” Strickler supplied as Jim was almost out the door. 

Jim gave a soft laugh. “Or saving her from goblins.” 

 

Jim really should not leave stuff to the last minute. Here he was, in the locker room, getting ready for gym. Yet, Jim couldn’t exactly take off his shirt in front of anyone since, you know, he had rock covering his chest and a shining red amulet attached to it. Not to mention the scar that came with the rock on Jim’s chest. Toby would probably be concerned about the scar, and probably the rock, but mostly the scar. How was Jim going to explain to his friend that he got the scar fighting Gunmar in the future when the future hasn’t even happened yet? 

Jim took in a breath, he would just go change in the bathroom. Even if that was a bit weird and unhygienic since he would be changing in the stall. It was better than allowing everyone to look at him and ask questions about the troll part of Jim. “Hey, Tobes, I’ll meet you in the gym. I’ve just got to handle something really quickly,” Jim called out to his friend as he pushed open the door to the bathrooms (thankfully, the bathrooms were connected to the locker rooms). 

Jim didn’t hear what Toby said back to him as the taller boy entered the bathroom. Thankfully, the bathroom was empty, allowing Jim to change without thinking anyone would peak over the top of the stall. Although, Jim was pretty sure no one would do that anyway. Heading into a stall, Jim sighed at the toilet in front of him. Fortunately, it had a lid. 

Jim didn’t change at first, instead, he pulled out the Amulet of Daylight from his pocket. Turning the amulet over, Jim ran his fingers over the back; opening the spots for the Triumbric Stones to go as he did so. Just as Jim had suspected, they were all empty. Frowning, Jim set the amulet on his knee and took off both his jacket and the shirt underneath. Now, Jim couldn’t see the red amulet attached to his chest but he could feel it. 

“So,” Jim began, talking to himself in the bathroom stall, “why are you still here?” His four fingered hand grazed over the amulet stuck to his chest. 

Shaking his head, Jim slipped his gym shirt over his head. He had spent enough time in the bathroom stall for Toby to, probably, start to worry what was taking Jim so long. Jim changed quickly after realizing how long he was taking. 

When Jim exited the bathroom, the locker room was empty. Crap, that meant that Jim was probably late for gym. Hurrying towards the door, Jim was met by Toby just outside of it. 

Toby yelped, backing up from the door. Sighing, the ginger looked up at Jim. “There you are, Coach just sent me to go look for you! What was taking you so long dude?” Toby squinted at Jim for a moment. “And what’s that on your shirt?” 

Jim sent a confused look over to Toby. “What?”

“There’s some sort of red mark,” Toby gestured to where the amulet sat on Jim’s chest, “there.” 

Jim’s eyes widened, the amulet glowed. How had he forgotten about that? Not only that but his shirt was white, which meant that the red glow the amulet produced was bright enough to shine through. Jim shook his head, waving away Toby’s hand. “I must’ve spilled...ketchup? Yeah, I must’ve spilled ketchup on my shirt or something. I needed to bring my other one home to wash so I just grabbed a random white one from my drawers.” Jim nervously chuckled, he really hoped Toby couldn’t see through his lies. He didn’t know if he even wanted to tell Toby about the Trollhunters this time around yet, let alone tell Toby about the fact that Jim’s from the future. “I must not have noticed the stain on it.” 

Toby nodded his head. “Let’s just get to gym, Jimbo. The faster we do this class, the faster school will be over!” Although Toby hadn’t really seemed to believe Jim, the ginger changed the subject. Jim appreciated that. 

The gym, unlike the bathroom and locker room, was full of people. Jim really hoped that they bought the ketchup stain lie. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw Claire talking to Mary and Darci. Claire’s hair proudly displayed the purple streak that she had had when she and Jim had first met and not the white one Jim had last seen her in. Jim had barely noticed the difference back in history since he was off thinking about other things but now that he saw the purple in Claire’s hair, Jim almost felt like he could breathe easier. 

Jim didn’t really leave Toby’s side until Coach Lawrence came over. Much like Jim was pretty sure he had done last time, he made his way over to Claire. This time, Jim had somewhat of an idea of what he was going to say to Claire; which would hopefully stop him from getting too tongue tied. Thankfully, the piece of paper for the school play ( _ Romeo and Juliet,  _ exactly the same) was on the top of Claire’s books. 

Jim titled his head to the side a bit to get a better view of the page on top. “They’re doing  _ Romeo and Juliet  _ as the school play this year?” 

Claire seemed to be surprised by Jim’s question. “Yeah. You like Shakespeare?” 

Jim nodded his head; he hadn’t really thought this far into the conversation. “Yeah,” He announced as soon as he figured out what he was going to say. “I might just audition for the play.”

“That’d be great!” Claire sent Jim a smile. “We were having trouble getting boys to audition.” 

The bell rang and once again did Jim find himself in a bathroom stall getting changed only to come back to a near empty locker room. The only person who was left in the locker room was Toby. 

Jim, not liking the silence between the two of them, decided to speak up. “I talked to Claire,” Jim announced as he leaned onto a locker. 

Toby looked up from the bench he was sitting on with wide eyes. “You talked to Claire? No way.” 

Jim shook his head and let out a chuckle. “Do you really not believe in my abilities to talk to girls that much?” Toby opened his mouth to answer. “Please don’t answer that. But yeah, I did talk to Claire during gym.” 

“Are you sure you weren’t just daydreaming it?” Toby questioned as he struggled to place his sock on his foot. “I know you have a habit of doing that, maybe this time it just seemed really real.” 

Jim rolled his eyes. “I did seriously talk to her, Tobes, and I told her I would try out for the school play.” 

“Is that a good thing?” Toby continued when Jim didn’t answer quick enough; although, the ginger hadn’t nearly given Jim enough time to really think about his answer. “I think it’s a good thing. You’re always saying how you want your life to be more exciting.” 

Jim let out a soft laugh. “Trust me, it’s about to get a bit more than exciting; try deadly.” Jim didn’t know if Toby had heard him or not, either way Jim didn’t really say anything else about what was going to happen. 

Jim, despite having the whole day to think about it, had no idea if he even wanted to tell Toby about the trolls and the responsibilities of being the Trollhunter again. There were so many things that could happen if Jim did tell Toby; both good and bad. Jim knew what would happen if things were to go south if he told Toby - his friend would die. Well, that was the very worst thing that could happen. The best thing that could happen if things went south when Jim told Toby was that the ginger didn’t believe what Jim was telling him. The very best thing that could possibly happen was that Toby survived the fight this time. 

Then, were the ideas that sprouted into Jim’s head about if he didn’t tell Toby. Jim would have to keep his whole other life a secret from Toby - much like Jim had done with Barbara and Claire for the longest of times - which would probably prove to be difficult. The two of them would probably grow apart and then Toby would wonder what he did to Jim to make him do so. Jim didn’t want to end up like Kanjigar, pushing his family and friends away just because he became the Trollhunter. Besides, Jim was pretty sure he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did last time without Toby. 

So, telling Toby it was. Well, at least the part about being the Trollhunter; Jim wasn’t going to tell anyone about him being from the future unless somehow it got out. 

That lead Jim to another thought; did anyone else remember the fight between Gunmar and him? 

Jim didn’t even realize that he had zoned out until they were near the front of the school; the sound of Steve mocking Eli seemed to have been the think to knock Jim out of his thoughts. Jim frowned, the last he had seen the two of them- no, Jim really had to stop doing this. He had gone back in time, of course nothing is going to be the same as it was before Jim had gone back in time. 

Setting his bike up against something (Jim was pretty sure it was lockers), Jim walked towards Steve; the sound of Eli pounding on the locker growing louder. “Why don’t you let him out now, Steve? You know, do something nice to Eli for a change instead of being a bully.” 

“Jim!” Toby called out from behind Jim, back where he had left his bike. 

Steve glared daggers at Jim (although, Jim had seen worse expressions from Strickler, Bular, Angor Rot, and Gunmar; in comparison, Steve looked like a kitten). “Something nice would be you minding your own business.” Steve turned back to lean on the locker Eli was locked up in, chatting more with the boy inside. 

Jim didn’t really want to start a fight, but with what he was going to say next, he had a feeling Steve would start to throw punches. Jim wasn’t even sure if Steve could really hit him now. “Just let Eli out, Steve.” 

Steve grabbed onto the collar of Jim’s shirt. Jim faintly remembered Steve being able to pick him up, but now it seemed as if Steve wasn’t strong enough; Jim had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of the rock that covered his chest and shoulder. “Or you’ll do what?” 

Jim had to think for a moment. He couldn’t exactly pull out Daylight and attack Steve, not that Jim really wanted to. The best bet was probably to just stick with what had happened before; which Jim was pretty sure that he had tried to get Steve to punch him. “Go ahead,” Jim announced, raising his arms at his side, “punch me.” 

“Jim,” Toby whispered in concern, “what are you doing?” 

“You’re asking for me to punch you?” A smirk appeared on Steve’s face as he tightened his hold on Jim’s jacket. “You asked for it, buttsnack.” Steve didn’t hesitate in raising his fist to strike Jim. 

Jim, having had countless days training with multiple people (most of the time they were trolls, like Draal or Aaarrrgghh), knew how to dodge and block a punch. Of course, the blocking was usually with a sword and the punch was usually coming from someone who had stone hands. Dodging the punch Jim had just told Steve to do didn’t seem like the best idea either, it would probably just make Steve even more frustrated than he already was. Jim didn’t exactly have much time to think about what he was going to do to actually stop Steve from punching him. 

So, that was how Jim found his four fingered fist covering Steve’s own hand before the blond’s punch had hit him. A look of surprise showed up on the blond’s face matching the one on Jim’s face; really, instincts had just kicked in. The amount of gasps that were heard from the students that had crowded around were just as loud as the silence that followed. Well, that was until the door opened up from the side of the school. Everyone left the surrounding area soon after, including Jim who had managed to sneak away from Steve without any problem.

 

“What the heck was that?” Toby exclaimed as the two teens rode their bikes home. They had gotten a decent amount away from the school that no teachers would hear how loud Toby was being; although, Jim was a bit confused as to why Toby would wait until they were nearly home to start up this conversation. “How did you just - you know - catch Steve’s fist without even blinking an eye? And what was that with your hand? It looked like you only had four fingers! Did you lose one in a cooking accident and got it magically fixed without me even knowing?” 

Jim chuckled, he really hoped he hid how nervous he sounded when he did too or else Toby would obviously know Jim was hiding something. “It must have just been the way you were facing me. I can assure you, I still have all ten of my fingers, Tobes.” Okay, that was a lie. Jim really didn’t like lying to Toby how was Jim supposed to explain to the ginger that he only had four fingers on one hand because he’s a half-troll - was a half-troll. Things were still so complicated on the half-troll part of things; Jim was really confused to no end now. Although, thankfully, the food Jim had made himself for lunch was something the boy could actually stomach; Jim did end up trying to eat a fork, only for it to be too hard to chew without the strong teeth he had when he was a troll. 

Toby nodded his head a bit. “Yeah, okay, you got me there on the finger part but that still doesn’t explain how you were able to catch Steve’s fist like that!” 

“Luck?” 

Thankfully, Toby didn’t have time to ask anymore questions for the honking of a car stopped the ginger. Barbara was leaving for work now, which meant that Jim would be alone at the house. 

Jim stuck his hand into his pocket, the note with Strickler’s number still in it and had somehow attached itself to the amulet. Well, that’s what Jim got for sticking them in the same pocket. Jim was still debating if he wanted to give his mother Strickler’s number or have another house call like the last time this year had gone by for Jim. 

“Hey, boys,” Barbara gave a smile to the teenagers as she rolled down the window of the car. 

Jim returned the smile. “Hey, Mum.” Jim’s smile quickly turned into a frown. “I’m guessing you’re going to be out all night?” 

It was Barbara’s turn to frown as a sigh escaped her lips. “Yeah.” Barbara then went on to list the reason why she was going to be staying out all night. 

Jim took a quick peek into the car. “Did you remember to grab-”

“Dinner,” Barbara finished as she brought out the paper bag Jim had packed for her. “Yes, thank you, Jim.” 

Jim nodded. “Please find a stove to reheat it and not use a microwave.” 

Barbara let out a soft laugh. “I’ll see what I can do.” 

“I’m serious, Mum, nuking it takes all the nutrients and flavour away.” 

“Jim, there must be a million things you'd rather be doing than looking after me,” Barbara, once again, sent a smile towards her son. 

Jim shook his head. “Can’t think of a single thing.” Jim reached into his pocket, pulling out the sticky note with Strickler’s number on it. Glancing at the yellow sticky note for a moment, he handed the sticky note to Barbara. “Mister Strickler said he wanted you to call him, you know, you when you got the chance.” Jim didn’t like Strickler but that didn’t mean that Jim should keep the fact that his teacher wanted to talk to his mum a secret. Besides, maybe if Jim gave his mother the phone number Strickler wouldn’t come over for tea (or was it coffee? Jim couldn’t exactly remember). 

Barbara took the sticky note from Jim, placing it onto the paper bag lunch her son had packed her. “I’ll be sure to do that when I have the time. I love you, Jim.” 

Jim waved as his mother started to move the car once again. “Bye Mum, have a good day at work.” 

It wasn’t until Toby cleared his throat that Jim remembered the ginger was there; Jim had been a bit caught up in talking with his mum that he hadn’t noticed Toby hadn’t left yet. “You really mother your mother, huh, Jimbo?” 

Jim watched as the car drove away. “I guess,” Jim announced in a soft voice, “I just don’t want her to get too stressed over things.” 

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing!” Toby defended and then laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah,” Jim barely said as he watched his friend go to the house across the street. “See you tomorrow.” Tomorrow was going to be another day of keeping secrets from people and trying to figure out how to stop everyone from dying. Jim didn’t even know how he was going to save everyone yet or what he could do to stop the first domino from falling. 

Sighing, Jim put his bike away and entered his house. 

The house was dark - Jim hadn’t really bothered to turn any of the lights on when he got in - and quiet. Jim didn’t really like it like that anymore. Before Jim had met Merlin he may have, but now, after meeting the jerk who had caused Jim to lose all of his friends, Jim hated the silence. It made Jim remember that time in the bathroom, when Merlin had given him the potion that would turn Jim into a half-troll. That time when he was all alone in that bathroom, alone with his thoughts; Jim didn’t want to go back to that but he had a sneaking feeling that he was going to have to eventually. 

Jim sat down on the couch, pulling the amulet out of his pocket. “How are there two of you?” He asked out loud, although he knew that the amulet wouldn’t respond. “I mean, sure, there were two of you before when we went into the Darklands but I don’t exactly know how that happened either.” Jim groaned, “I really wish you could say more than just to say my name so I could actually ask you questions.”

A sound of something falling to the ground knocked Jim out of his wordless conversation with the amulet (which was really just Jim staring at it). If Jim hadn’t already been through this moment once before he probably would have thought it to just be raccoons but, like it’s been explained many times before, Jim’s already been through this day a couple of times. Jim, now at least, knew better than to think it was raccoons; he knew what was really going on, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh had decided to come meet their new human Trollhunter. 

Jim let out a soft laugh as he got up from the couch. The last time he had gone through this day and met Blinky and Aaarrrgghh hadn’t gone so well. Blinky had thought Jim to be a changeling due to the teen’s knowledge about trolls despite never having been in Trollmarket before - well, before for Blinky. 

Jim flicked the light for the basement on, the steps creaking as he went down into the dimly lit basement. Jim hadn’t replaced one of the lightbulbs yet, had he? Shaking his head, Jim looked around for Blinky and Aaarrrgghh; for a large troll covered in moss and a troll with six eyes and four arms, they were difficult to find in the small basement. Then again, Draal had been the basement for months and Jim was pretty sure both Claire (before she found out about trolls) and his mother had been down there. Trolls must be really good hiders for neither person to figure out that there was one living in the basement. Well, Claire had seen Draal but then had blacked out and most likely had thought it to be a dream though. 

“Master Jim!” 

Jim yelped in surprise, turning around to face Blinky. 

The six eyed troll had a large grin on his face, something that - nearly the days before the Eternal Night - Jim didn’t see very often. “Master Jim! We have found you!” Blinky rested on pair of his hands on Jim’s shoulders. “I am known as Blinky.”

Jim felt a breath of air reach his neck; Aaarrrgghh. Jim let go of a breath he didn’t even know he was holding onto. He had had no reason to believe that Aaarrrgghh wouldn’t be in the basement with Blinky, the two of them had come together the first time Jim had gone through today. Jim had turned around - thankfully, Blinky let go of his shoulders so the teen could do so - to face Aaarrrgghh. The friendly giant also had a smile upon his face, although, it was more of a small smile than Blinky’s huge grin. 

Jim lifted his hand in a small wave. “Hi?” What was Jim supposed to do? The last time this had happened Jim had screamed and bonked his head on the pipe one too many times. Was Jim supposed to pretend to be scared? “Um, my name’s Jim. But I guess you guys already knew that?” Jim hadn’t even questioned how Blinky and Aaarrrgghh had known his name last time. 

Aaarrrgghh raised his hand much like Jim had. “Name’s Aaarrrgghh.” Aaarrrgghh held up three out of four of his fingers. “Three Rs.” 

Jim nodded. “Three Rs, got it.” Turning back to Blinky, Jim gave the troll a look of confusion. “What exactly are you guys here for?” Jim knew exactly why the two trolls were here, but, like with most things, Jim didn’t exactly want Blinky and Aaarrrgghh to know that. Jim had a feeling his life just got a whole lot more complicated, other than the ‘Being a Trollhunter’ part. 

Blinky clapped his hands together as softly as he could, although that still made a pretty loud clap. “Right!” He excitable yelled out. “Master Jim,” Blinky turned to Jim, “you have been chosen.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Jim looked at Blinky as confused as he could. “Chosen for what exactly?” Jim was really not going to get used to this. 

“Why, to be the Trollhunter!” Blinky then went on to explain about the world below Jim’s feet; the world of trolls, goblins, Gumm-Gumms and Trollmarket. “This honor is yours to accept, Master Jim.” 

Jim gave a smile to the troll in front of him. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I accept then.” 

“Great!” Blinky clapped once more. “We can start training immediately then!” 

“About that,” Jim nervously chuckled. “It’s a school night.” 

Blinky gave a bewildered look. “I’m afraid I don’t see the problem with it being a ‘school night.’” Right, Jim was going to have to explain a lot about how the humans did stuff again. 

“I have to go to school early in the morning and I can’t stay up too late unless I want to be a grump in the morning,” Jim explained further. “We can start training in a couple of days though! I swear.” Besides, Jim wanted to see what would happen when he wore the armor without anyone being around first. That way, if something happened (like Jim was turned into a troll or something) Jim would be able to think of a good excuse for it before anyone else knew about it. 

Blinky hummed. “I guess we can excuse training for a day or two, but only for this school thing you have. I expect you to start your training right after these days are up though, Master Jim!” 

Jim gave Blinky a small smile. “I promise.” Mentally, Jim was screaming. This was going to prove to be a lot harder than he would’ve thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, just to clear some things up. the first part of season 1 (dealing with Bular and the bridge mostly) didn't really change in the universe this Jim is from until the part where Draal rescues the amulet from Killahead Bridge; the only difference about that part is that Draal dies then and doesn't just lose his arm. Barbara and Strickler die in the second part of season 1; Aaarrrgghh is brainwashed to be Gunmar's slave instead of Draal and thus so becomes Draal in Merlin's tomb; Claire dies to Morgana's possession. I'm pretty sure I explained all of that in the first chapter but just in case, I'm putting it here too.
> 
> anyways, i cut it off short of the end of the episode because i just thought that right here was a good place to end it.
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


	3. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim is stressed; that's about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ~~i didn't think this would take me two weeks to write, especially considering i wrote the last chapter (7kish words compared to this 4.5k) in a week. i got really bad writer's block during it and i was adding like a sentence a day? idk but it wasn't a lot - that and i was also watching shows instead of writing :P~~  
>  EDIT: it took me a week to write this, plus a couple of days - whoops! i am tired.
> 
> i also thought that this chapter would be episode 2's chapter and not just an extension of episode 1 but i don't want to go over 10k words a chapter because..well...that's a lotta words to read and if i wrote 10k chapters for every chapter starting now...that would still be a lotta words. a lot more than i would probably want to write which would probably burn me out and i actually wanna finish this fic.
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Jim found himself not being able to sleep that night; he didn’t know if it was from nerves or the fact that for the past couple days he had found himself having the same problem. Trolls didn’t need very much sleep compared to humans, trolls barely really needed sleep. That found Jim having to be awake even when he didn’t want to be; it’s hard to fall asleep when your body doesn’t want to. Let’s just say that having even more time to think over what Jim was going to do didn’t exactly help him. What he really wanted was to be able to sleep on it, but now, that might not be possible. The faint red glow coming from Jim’s chest probably didn’t help his case. 

Groaning in frustration, Jim pulled himself up out of bed. Glancing over at the clock only made Jim groan more; it was only three in the morning. It was only four hours until Jim had to actually get up to go to school and three to four hours until the sun came up (it was really around ten to seven that the sun did come up). What was Jim supposed to do in those four hours? What was Jim even going to do about Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Draal, Claire, and Toby? 

Jim was starting to understand why Strickler called him Young Atlas, it really did seem like Jim had the weight of the world on his shoulders. All this stress was just piling up; being the Trollhunter; knowing what’s going to happen in the future; not knowing if Jim should tell his friends anything about said future. Not to mention that if Jim didn’t defeat Gunmar, the world would be in chaos. The fate of the world rested on what Jim would do. Jim just wanted to scream out as loud as he could, but he couldn’t, he was inside. Although, Jim didn’t have to be inside. 

Grabbing the glowing, blue amulet from the desk beside him for protection (he didn’t exactly have a giant sword to protect him without it and Jim’s dodging abilities only went so far when he was still a human), Jim walked out of his room. Leaving the door open as not to make any additional noise to the sound of it being opened. Jim was also about to leave out through the backdoor when he realized he should probably grab his phone to keep track of the time; he still had jobs to do outside of being the Trollhunter and making lunch for himself and Toby, and dinner for Barbara, was one of them. Thankfully, Jim knew exactly where his phone was so it was only a quick in-n-out thing to do. 

The dark forest in front of Jim felt calming, almost inviting. Jim couldn’t help but think of the time that he woke up in that very same forest, his body sore from the transformation. Jim had woken up alone, pain passing through every part of his body only to leave behind a slight numbing sensation. Thankfully, Jim had been able to wander home without anyone seeing (or hearing) him but had entered into an empty home. Merlin certainly wasn’t going to be there to greet the Trollhunter. Blinky and Toby had gone off to go get allies to help fight in the war against Gunmar and Morgana. 

The thought of being alone in the house brought back memories of when Jim had been in the bathroom; Merlin’s serum swimming in the bathtub. Jim had been sitting there for what felt like hours; days even. He had glanced at his phone every couple of minutes (more like seconds, time seemed to go by faster than it actually did when you were alone with your thoughts) to see if he would get a call from Toby or Blinky. Jim had sat there for minutes waiting for someone to knock on the door, to tell him that they were there for him; yet, there was no one. Merlin wanted Jim to go through with the transformation, and Blinky and Toby were out; unknowing to what Jim was about to do in the bathroom. 

Jim found himself in the same part of the forest he had woken up in all those days ago; or, at least what Jim remembered to be the spot he had woken up in. The Eclipse Amulet’s glow shone through Jim’s shirt, illuminated the teenager with a red glow, making the trees that crowded around each other - fighting for sunlight that (if the sun was up) would shine through the thin holes in the leaves and branches - look covered in a crimson paint. Jim could barely see the stars through the red stained leaves above, not that he was really actively looking for them. Jim had come out here to scream his heart out, not stare up at the stars. He had had plenty enough time to do that another night, or even after he was finished screaming. But right now, right now was a time for Jim to unleash what was making him feel trapped. 

So, Jim opened his mouth and yelled. He yelled as loud as he could; in frustration; in confusion; out of stress. Jim yelled for whatever reason he had. It didn’t take long for his yells to create tears that fell from his eyes slowly. Jim didn’t want to go through the pain of losing his friends - his family - all over again. He couldn’t let that all happen again. Yet, when Jim tried to think of ways to save them, his mind supplied him with a blank. Just how was Jim supposed to stop Draal from getting pushed back from removing the amulet from Killahead Bridge other than not allowing Draal to get near it? That would be nearly impossible, Draal was stubborn and probably wouldn’t listen to Jim about not coming after him. And after that, how was Jim supposed to stop Strickler from placing that binding spell on himself and Barbara? How was Jim going to stop that now if it happened? The only answer Jim really had an answer for was how to stop Aaarrrgghh from getting mind controlled; Jim just wouldn’t let his friends follow him into the Darklands. 

Jim let out another yell, hoping to drown out the thoughts of failing. He would stop Gunmar this time; if the Gumm-Gumm troll was stuck in the Darklands for as long as he had been before and didn’t create the Eternal Night on the last day of school, Jim would have two years of training compared to the one he had had last time. Besides, Jim knew how things were going to turn out now and could think of some way to stop them. 

Jim didn’t know how many screams he had released before he heard something other than the echoes. Jim froze when he heard someone push away a bush; sure, Jim could pass it off as an animal and not a person or a troll, but the animals didn’t mutter words of pain. Although, trolls (for the most part) didn’t either, and they certainly wouldn’t be hurt by tiny thorns stuck to bushes. Which meant that whoever had come to see Jim was most likely human, or a changeling in their human disguise. 

Jim almost tried to summon Daylight, only to realise that he wasn’t wearing the Trollhunter armor; there were things Jim was going to have to get used to again, like not wearing the armor twenty-four-seven. Well, it was really only twenty-four-three since Jim only really spent three days as a half-troll. It was long enough for Jim to get used to wearing the armor everyday and being to summon Daylight (it was actually Eclipse since he was wearing the Eclipse armor, but still) at any moment. 

“Jim?” Strickler. 

Jim turned around slowly, trying to think of what to say to Strickler. There wasn’t really an easy explanation to why the teenaged boy was in the forest so late in the night. “Mister Strickler,” Jim exclaimed as he caught sight of his history teacher. The changeling was in his human disguise, suit and all. “Uh, what brings you to the forest this late at night?” It was an innocent enough question, that could be easily turned on Jim. 

“I should ask you the same question.” Ah, and Strickler did exactly that. “Especially at four in the morning. Does your mother know where you are?” Jim only looked down at the ground, not wanting to answer Strickler. It was obvious that Barbara did not know where her son was. “I’m going to take that as a no.” 

“You haven’t answered my question yet.”

Strickler gave Jim a disappointed frown. “I am out here because I could hear you screaming, I came to investigate in case you were in trouble.” 

_ But what were you doing outside this late at night that allowed you to hear me?  _ Jim’s thoughts supplied; thankfully, he was able to hold that sentence in and not let it slip out.  _ Why do you even care?  _ Jim knew the answer to the last one, because Strickler didn’t know that the boy in front of him was the Trollhunter. If Strickler did, Jim had a feeling that this situation would go very differently. 

Strickler gave a sigh as he rested his hand on Jim’s shoulder. “What are  _ you  _ doing out here, screaming, Jim?” 

Jim had half of his mind yelling at him to pull away from Strickler, get the man’s hand off of his shoulder, while the other half just didn’t really care and wanted Jim to ask questions about what Strickler would do with what was happening in Jim’s life (minus telling the changeling about Jim being the Trollhunter, just lying and saying it was about chess again or something). Jim had missed having Strickler as a teacher and had grown to see the changeling as a grown-up he could trust other than his mother; Blinky joined Strickler in that regard. To learn that Strickler was one of the people trying to kill the Trollhunter - to kill Jim - hurt. Jim should hate Strickler, not only was the changeling actively trying to kill him, but Strickler was the person who had gotten Barbara killed. Yet, this Strickler, who doesn’t even know Jim’s the Trollhunter (yet, who knows, he might actual know Jim’s the Trollhunter), hasn’t done anything to Jim; hasn’t bonded himself and Barbara together, angered Angor Rot, or gotten himself killed by Angor Rot. This Strickler was just the Strickler that was Jim’s teacher - who also, sorta, wanted to release someone who wanted to end the world. 

In the end, Jim couldn’t exactly run away from Strickler - the changeling wasn’t dumb at all and would know that, well, Jim knew of his little secret if Jim did end up running. So, the half that wanted to ask Strickler questions, or at least talk to him, won. Jim just had to think about how he would word whatever he was going to say so Strickler didn’t figure out that Jim knew that he was a changeling. This situation could go bad in so many ways, Jim didn’t even feel like counting them. 

“Jim?” 

“You were right,” Jim admitted, taking in a breath of air when he noticed he had been holding his breath. “About me being stressed. So, I-I came out here to just, to just let it all out.” Jim weakly gestured to the forest area they were currently in. 

Strickler gave Jim a look of genuine concern. “If you’re that stressed, Jim, I would suggest dropping something. Surely there is something that you may think you need to do but is not necessary. ” That would be great advice for someone who spread themselves. “It seems as if you’re spreading yourself too thin; that there’s not enough of you to do everything you want or need to do.” Like Jim, as Strickler so stated. 

“But,” Jim started, stopping for a moment as if the words were caught in his throat, “but what if I can’t drop anything?” Jim paused once more before elaborating, “I can’t exactly drop school, and if I stop taking care of my mother she’ll probably forget to do it herself.”  _ I can’t drop being the Trollhunter either, unless I want the whole entire world to be destroyed by Gunmar. You know, the man who you’re currently trying to free from the Darklands. I can’t drop trying to save my friends either because I know what happens if they die, and I hate that. I hate that if I don’t figure out how to stop Draal from dying every single one of my friends will fall like dominos.  _ “How do you do it?” Jim froze as he realized that he had said that out loud. Not even quietly, loud enough that Strickler was positive to have heard it. 

“How do I do what?” 

Jim had to think quick. “How do you manage having a job and still being able to do your own thing?”  _ How do you manage your human life and your changeling one at the same time.  _

Strickler hummed, almost as if he were thinking. “Well, I can tell you one thing, Jim; it is very challenging.” Strickler explained, “Many people have different ways of managing their career and their social life. For me, I prioritize a time for when I am to do my work while not at the school - although, the majority of my work does get done there - and make sure I will have no interruptions.” Strickler seemed to pause, so Jim didn’t speak up to say anything. “I’m sure you’d be able to find a way to balance your life and your mother, Jim. You’re a smart boy,” Strickler let out a chuckle, “for the most part. Although, I don’t believe coming out here in the dead of night was a very smart move.”

“I-” Jim swallowed whatever he was going to say, he didn’t even know what it was going to be, “Yeah, I-I think I’ll go home now, Mister Strickler. It was nice talking to you, and thank you, for the words of advice.”

Strickler shook his head. “Nonsense, Jim, what kind of teacher would I be had I not helped you? I do hope our next conversation, however, does not take place in the middle of the woods at four in the morning.” Looking behind him, Strickler seemed to take in a breath before giving Jim a kind smile. “Allow me to walk you home, who knows what could be out here in the woods.”

Jim shook his head. “You don’t have to do that, Mister Strickler, my house isn’t too far.” 

“It would be no trouble.” 

That was how Jim found himself walking through the woods with Strickler. Jim’s hands were the thing that distracted him from the nervousness of being beside Strickler, his fingers picking at the sides of his nails. What else was Jim supposed to feel beside Strickler? Sure, this Strickler was just as evil as the one who had died but this Strickler, the one that was so kind to walk Jim back home without any ulterior motives (hopefully), wasn’t the one who got Jim’s mother killed. But he could be. They were technically the same Strickler; same changeling, same history teacher, same person who helps other changelings try to free their lord from his prison on the weekends (more like everyday but whatever, Jim was trying to get himself to laugh to not be as nervous around Strickler). Yet, now, Jim had conflicted feelings. 

This man, standing beside him, was Jim’s history teacher for years (two years? A year and a half? Jim didn’t really know when Strickler started to try to kill him nor did he know if the year he’s already been through counts; let’s just say it was one year that Strickler was Jim’s history teacher), said history teacher who has talked to Jim, and helped him. This man, right now, wasn’t the person who had gotten Barbara killed; but he could be. If things went the same direction they did back then, Strickler and Barbara would die.

Jim (thankfully only mentally, if that was a thing he could actually do, it felt like he could anyway) shook his head. He had started to repeat himself and thinking about how things could only go bad would be a sure way of letting things go bad. Jim had to think positively. If Jim was able to save Draal, he was sure that everyone else’s deaths could be avoided. Including Strickler’s. Although, Jim really didn’t care much for Bular and Angor Rot.  

“Jim,” Strickler blurted out suddenly as the two of them walked down a path (how Jim hadn’t noticed its presence while he was jogging through the woods is a mystery), “I noticed before but didn’t want to question it, but, what is that red glow?” 

Jim’s brain froze. Crap.

Crap.

Any other word for crap.

Jim had to think fast - now that his brain was finally allowing him to - about how he was suppose to answer Strickler’s question. He hadn’t even realized that the glow hadn’t stopped when he talked to Strickler. What would be a reasonable explanation other than the truth? “Um,” Jim wanted to be anywhere but here right now, “it’s a glowstick?” Jim questioned to himself. “Yeah, it’s a glowstick. One of those really bright ones that you can get for a party. My mum keeps them around the house, in case we go camping. I took one with me tonight, flashlights are...heavy?” Oh gosh, the lies Jim was spilling right now. He really hoped Strickler believed them, or at least the glowstick one; Jim wouldn’t care if Strickler thought the glowsticks were for something else other than camping. Jim didn’t even remember the last time he had gone camping, that was for fun, at least. He had camped lots in the Darklands with Claire, Toby, Blinky, and Aaarrrgghh. 

Strickler chuckled. “That is one very strong glowstick.” 

Nervously chuckling, Jim placed his hands behind his back. “Yeah, they’re the extra strong ones, for when my mum wants to read in the dark, in the tent.” Sticking to the camping lie, great. At least it’s not the reason why he hadn’t been at school for two weeks, some sort of sickness, Jim had told them; and that it had spread to his friends too, as to explain why they weren’t at school either. Jim was probably going to have to use that excuse for not being at school for two weeks that he’ll probably be in the Darklands for. Although, who knows, he might be in the Darklands for a shorter amount of time since he knows where the nursery is, and he, hopefully, won’t be caught by Gunmar this time. 

The rest of the walk went by in silence. 

 

Jim sat on his bed, the clock on his desk saying it was only a couple of minutes to six, yet the Trollhunter still couldn’t sleep. Although, the fact that he’s sitting up instead of laying down may be a part of it. Another thing that could be keeping up Jim could be the red glow that lit up his room. The amulet had gotten brighter during Jim’s time outside and would not die down. He knew that the amulet reacted to his emotions (building the armor by itself when Jim was afraid or angry) but he didn’t know that it reacted to the time of day either. Or the amulet was just reacting to how nervous Jim had gotten talking to Strickler alone. All Jim wanted it to do, right now, was not glow so much; if Barbara walked out of her room right now, Jim would guess she could see the glow emitting from his room. Toby could probably see it from his bedroom window, if he was awake right now anyway. 

Jim fetched the Amulet of Daylight out of his pants’ pocket, holding it in his hands once more. The blue glow the amulet in Jim’s hands emitted was much more tame than the angry, red glow that the Eclipse Amulet produced. Jim didn’t realize it before, but he had missed the soft blue glow that the Amulet of Daylight gave off; it made him feel safe almost. It made him remember these days, the days when all Jim had to worry about was fighting off a goblin hoard after a mailman’s truck killed their fellow goblin, or saving the amulet from a kleptomaniac gnome. Those days hadn’t lasted long. 

Running a finger over the amulet in his hands, Jim stared out at Toby’s house; the lights all still turned off. It’s about an hour to sunrise (which, in Jim’s opinion, would’ve been a better time to wake up) which left Jim with some time to kill. Now, Jim could always go see what was happening on the internet or watch something on his phone, but, he had a better idea. That idea just so happened to include the amulet that Jim currently had in his hands. Well, it’s pretty obvious what Jim’s idea was.

Jim found himself outside for the second time that night; although, he didn’t go farther than the back porch. Thankfully, Jim could barely see the sun try to peek out from under the horizon, so, he still had time to test what would happen when he used the amulet. Right now felt like the very first (well, it was actually the second day, now that Jim thought about it) day Jim had had the amulet. Standing out in the backyard, curiosity filling Jim to the brim. It felt like he was fifteen again with his sixteenth birthday just around the corner. Really, if Jim was counting the year where he died (kind of? Did it really happen if Merlin sent him back in time? If it didn’t, then the time where Jim got gravely injured) at the beginning of school break, Jim would be turning seventeen. 

Jim found himself holding the Amulet of Daylight up to his eyes, the Trollish slowly turning to English. Not that Jim really needed it to, he knew what it said. “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” 

The white and blue armor formed around Jim, each piece finding its way onto his body much like its done thousands (more like hundreds but who’s really counting?) times before. Unlike the first time Jim had put on the armor, the armor didn’t need to adjust to his size. He didn’t know if that was because he had worn the armor before in the past (future, really, the past for Jim), or if it was because of the Eclipse Amulet currently stuck to his chest. Either way, not having to have the armor adjust to his size really made it feel like old times. 

The need to summon Daylight was almost too strong for Jim to really push away; so, out came the sword. Much like the armor had, Daylight hadn’t needed to readjust to Jim’s size, allowing Jim to just take swings with the sword. When he had first dawned the armor, Jim had gotten Daylight stuck in the rocks around him, now that Jim knew how to properly wield the sword that was much larger than a cooking knife that didn’t happen. Instead, Jim decided to have some fun swinging the sword around - being careful not to hit anything, of course. It was like that time when Jim and Toby had been in the ginger’s backyard destroying things. Except this time, there was no Draal to scold him about not properly using Daylight. 

Jim didn’t know how long he was swinging around Daylight, pretending that the ghost of Gunmar was in front of him, but however long it had been had been enough time for the sun to peak over the fence. Not once, until this moment, had Jim really taken the time to see what he looked like wearing the armor. He had never really seen the Daylight Armor on him while he was a troll, since the Eclipse Amulet had been forged into a part of him; much like it is now. Although, whatever Jim looked like now - was now - didn’t allow the sun to hurt him. At least, not too badly. 

Jim yelped back in surprise when he felt the sun touch the back of his neck; it almost felt like when you touch the metal part of a seatbelt on a really hot day. It would burn you if you touched it for too long, but it was just a little bit of pain at first. Jim had a feeling that the sun wouldn’t turn him to stone, but instead give him a nasty sunburn like it would if he was outside too long as a human. Jim didn’t really know what a sunburnt troll would look like (probably because if trolls went outside in the sun, they would die; so technically a sunburnt troll is a dead troll). Jim didn’t even know if he looked like a troll right now or if the sensitivity to sunlight was just because he was back in the armor. 

Jim, using Daylight as a makeshift mirror (he didn’t want to wake his mum with all the noise the armor would make if he went up the stairs to the bathroom, if Barbara was home that was), studied himself. He couldn’t really tell anything was different from the sword’s reflection alone, but Jim knew there was, at least, something different from when he hadn’t been wearing the armor. Frowning to himself, Jim placed Daylight onto his back, the sword disappearing to wherever it went when Jim didn’t need it. 

Jim ran his fingers through his hair, sighing as he did so. That was when he noticed it; what was different about him when he put the armor on. Jim’s right hand had been left uncovered by the armor, much like it had been while he had been in the Eclipse Armor as a troll, which meant the he could still feel his hair running through his fingers. Which also meant that Jim could tell that his skin wasn’t as soft as it had been before. Now that he really paid attention to his hand as well, Jim could see, an almost unnoticeable unless you looked, blue hue about it. It was almost like Jim was in the process of going fully troll but stopped midway. Not only did Jim find that his skin was tougher than a normal human’s, but Jim also noticed tiny nubs growing out of his head the more he prodded around in his hair. Jim could only guess that they were his soon to be horns. 

Jim was basically slowly turning into a troll. And, to be honest, it didn’t scare him as much as he would have thought. He guessed it was because he had been turned into a troll before, albeit the transformation had been pretty fast. Jim wondered how long this transformation would take.

How was he supposed to explain this to his mum? 

Well, Jim will just have to think of an explanation later. Right now, as his alarm clock oh so loudly told him, Jim had to get ready for school. 

 

\---

 

The canal was empty, devoid of any water or any living thing. Well, except for the living hunk of rock called a troll currently resting on the beams of the bridge that hung across the canal. Stricklander could see Bular from where he stood, although, that could be because of the changeling’s ability to see in the dark with what would, probably, be called glow in the dark eyes. Stricklander didn’t really care about the technicalities though, what the changeling would like to know about was if the Amulet of Daylight was still with the previous Trollhunter’s remains. Stricklander didn’t even need to walk more than five steps forward to see that there was no shining blue glow as there would be had the amulet still be there. There was no point in picking up one of the many pieces of Kanjigar. 

Stricklander grimaced as the sound of Bular hopping down from the beams shook the ground. “It’s been taken.” Without turning back to face the Gumm-Gumm troll behind him, Stricklander continued on with his observation. “You failed. You let it go.” A smirk appeared on the changeling’s face, hidden from view from Bular. If the troll saw that Stricklander was smirking at his failure, Stricklander would be killed on the spot. Important to the cause or not, no one was allowed to be any happy emotion about Bular failing. “Your father will be displeased.” Gunmar certainly would be, not only did his son lose the Amulet of Daylight but Bular didn’t know who held the amulet either. That put them back a step. 

Bular roared, not loud enough to be heard from the houses nearby but from the bridge only. “ Whoever holds the Amulet of Merlin, I shall destroy him, just as I have done with every single one of them.” Stricklander knew all too well that Bular did not make empty threats.

Glancing out the side of his eyes to look over at Bular, Stricklander’s smirk fell. “Worry not, you brute.” Stricklander glanced back down at the remains of the fallen hero, not wanting to look at Bular’s face any longer. “Although we do not know who currently holds the amulet, it will be due time until they show their face to us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i didn't really know how i wanted the Jim and Strickler bonding (ish???) moment to happen since in the show it happens the day after Jim gets the amulet and that is what my mind provided. i figure that Jim wouldn't go to Strickler himself but if Strickler just came up and started talking to Jim, Jim would kinda have to respond or else it would blow his cover. that and Jim doesn't really know what to think of Strickler right now, on one hand, the guy wants to help Gunmar and will later on try to kill Jim, but on the other hand, Strickler doesn't want to kill Jim per say but the Trollhunter, who he doesn't know is Jim. Jim is just really conflicted. so am i tbh, i'm writing this as i go. you have no idea how many times i've rewritten the time travel reveal scene in my head and i think i've finally gotten one that i actually like. 
> 
> oh, also, there's gonna be a new book for this which is basically gonna be full of what if's and those other things i think about. basically how scenes could have gone had i decided to go another way.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~there's also gonna be one more chapter until the start of episode 2 which is basically gonna be an interlude where it's Strickler's POV (still third but more focused on him). i don't know how many interludes there will be all together, but i do have a few planned out. especially during season 2. basically the interludes will be the view of a scene that Jim isn't a part of that's important to the story.~~
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT (again...): said scene has now been added to this chapter since i found it too short for it to be its own chapter.  
> EDIT: also just realized that i've been spelling Kanijigar's name wrong this whole time, that's been fixed now.
> 
> oh boy, this has gotten long.
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


	4. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim debates telling Toby that he's the Trollhunter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, this chapter came out five days after the last one, i'd say that's a whole lot better than last time. i don't know when the next one will be coming out though, i'm going to be getting a lot busier with life after tomorrow.
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Jim had had a lot of time to think over the past couple days but today was the day that he had promised Blinky that he would start training, which meant that Jim had to think over some decisions right now that he hadn’t before. The main one was if Jim was going to tell Toby that he was the Trollhunter. Toby hadn’t been at school due to dentist appointments for the past couple days so Jim had been able to think things over without the ginger interrupting him, but it didn’t really seem to help with the ultimate decision. Jim couldn’t make his mind about whether he wanted Toby to know or not. 

Toby had come in handy back when he had known, like when he had helped Jim out of the sewers when he had had the idiotic idea of challenging Bular way too soon. Although, Jim was positive that that wouldn’t happen this time around, unless somehow someone slipped the Grit-Shaka onto him. There was also the time with Gnome Chompsky, when Jim couldn’t kill the guy Toby had offered, despite not killing the gnome either. There had been other times that Toby had been helpful, and not just fighting trolls; Toby had been able to think of reasonable excuses for Jim about why the Trollhunter was hurt to Barbara. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh couldn’t do that since they were the reason why Toby had to make the excuses in the first place, not to mention that if they talked to Barbara the secret would be out.

The only bad side that Jim could really see by telling Toby was that he might die, again. Toby had been one of the last of Jim’s friends - no, Jim’s family - to die. Jim didn’t even fully know what had happened to Toby and Blinky other than Blinky had been turned to stone and Toby’s war hammer had been broken. Jim could only imagine the worst and Gunmar taunting Jim about the death of his friends hadn’t really helped. 

Other than the fact that Toby might die, again, Jim found no real reason not to tell his friend. Screw the ‘The Trollhunter Works Alone’ rule. 

Jim slouched further into the couch as he pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket. Taking in a breath as he maneuvered his fingers to Toby’s contact, Jim pressed call. The phone rang for awhile, although, it wasn’t Toby who had picked up but his answer machine. Jim found that this might be better than talking to Toby full on, Jim still had to figure out how to tell Toby because unlike last time Jim didn’t skip school to wait for his friend. 

Jim took in another breath. “Hey, Tobes, it’s Jim.” Jim started out shaky, not really knowing how to put what he wanted to say into words. “Um, do you think you could meet me at my house when you’re not busy? Hopefully tonight? I need to- it’s important.” Jim finished, hitting the hang up button once the phone left his ear. 

Jim let his phone fall to the other side of the couch, taking one last heavy breath before he stared up at the ceiling. From what Jim had remembered from when he had told Toby last time, Toby had been at a dentist’s appointment for eight hours, at least, when Jim had gone and seen him. Jim didn’t really remember the exact time but they had gotten back after dark and it was only four, so, four more hours to go until dark came. Jim didn’t really know what really to do until then. 

That was when his mind started to wander to Claire. Claire, much like Toby, had been a big help when Jim had needed it, especially with that shadow staff of hers even if it had been the consequences of that thing that had killed Claire. 

Crap, now all Jim could think about was Claire’s death. Unlike the majority of the others, Claire’s body had been the controlled by Morgana for a month before anyone had figured out that Claire was in trouble. By the time that Morgana had shown that she could control Claire’s body no matter what time, it had been too late to save Claire. Toby hadn’t learned how to use the shadow staff yet so there was no way to open a portal to go rescue Claire from the Shadow Realm. 

 

\---

 

Jim stared at what was once his girlfriend, Claire, her body chained to a chain; although, the chains didn’t seem to be doing anything to stop Morgana from spinning them around her body an inch from it. When Jim had first learned about Morgana possessing Claire, he had hoped it had just been lack of sleep and he hadn’t heard Blinky correctly, but, unfortunately, Jim had heard Blinky correctly. Claire Nuñez was possessed by Morgan Le Fey, and - from what Blinky had told Jim and Toby - there wasn’t a way to save Claire.

Blinky held onto his four hands, his expression making Jim nervous about what he was about to say. “I believe,” Blinky seemed to have choked on his words for he paused for a moment, “I believe it would be best if you left the room, Master Jim.” Toby had already left the room, having gone to find NotEnrique to explain what was going on with Claire. (Later, they would find out that NotEnrique, having been sent down to Trollmarket to spy on Gunmar since he was smaller than Blinky and the humans would be too obvious, had been captured after helping Dictatious get away from Gunmar.) 

Jim glanced back at his possessed girlfriend. “There’s gotta be some way, Blinky.” 

“Unfortunately, without someone who has knowledge about dark magic, there is no way to rescue her,” Blinky explained, bowing his head as he did so. “I am truly sorry, Master Jim.” 

Jim sucked in a breath, letting it out almost as uneasy as he had brought it in. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, he had already lost so many people to this war; too many people. Jim, without another word to Blinky or to the constantly talking Morgana possessed Claire, turned to walk out of the bedroom door. Only to hear one last sentence from Morgana before exiting.

“Look at you, forced to fight in a war that you never knew existed, wouldn’t just be better to give up? You’ll be broken before you know it if you don’t, Trollhunter.” Morgana had sounded too much like Claire (too much like Claire’s voice for Jim to handle) when she had said that. 

Jim didn’t answer as he shut the door behind him, barely hearing the apology Blinky sent towards Claire; not that she could probably hear it at all. 

Jim collapsed as he rested up against the wall next to the door, the tears that had been threaten to fall out in the bedroom finally falling down Jim’s cheeks. 

 

No one said anything, or talked to Blinky about what he had done with the body, when they saw that Claire’s picture had joined Jim and Barbara’s missing posters. 

 

\---

 

Jim reached for his phone on the couch cushion next to him, his fingers hitting the buttons to redial Toby. Much like Jim’s last call to Toby, he didn’t answer and the call went to voicemail. “Hey Tobes, it’s Jim again. Think you could meet me at the canal instead? I’ve got something to do there.” Like talk to Blinky about getting some training in now, even if it wasn’t all that much; Jim wasn’t going to allow what had happened before to happen again. They weren’t going to get stuck in the gyre station if Jim could help it. Claire wasn’t going to overuse her shadow staff. 

 

Jim found himself in the canal way before the sun set, and he didn’t know if that meant that Blinky and Aaarrrgghh had already started to spy on him or not. Whatever it meant, it probably meant that Jim couldn’t get into Trollmarket yet. Which also meant that Jim couldn’t exactly train. Jim frowned in disappointment at that, he had been hoping to train before he met Toby. Taking in a sigh, Jim sat down near the entrance of Trollmarket, staying in the little bit of sun near it. At least that way, if Bular was anywhere near, he wouldn’t really be able to get to Jim because of the sun.

Jim also found himself thinking about Claire again, but, thankfully, another reason than her death. Jim, much like he had before with Toby, didn’t know if he wanted to tell Claire about being the Trollhunter. Although, Jim knew that Claire was smart and if Jim didn’t tell her himself, then she would probably learn herself somehow. Jim might as well just tell Claire himself because of that. 

Jim’s mind then went to the night that he had, technically, told Claire that he was the Trollhunter. NotEnrique had angered some goblins, killing one of them with a picture of Claire and Enrique and making the goblins go after Claire. NotEnrique had gone to tell Jim, and then Jim had gone after to protect Claire. That was also how Jim had found that the amulet that he was a fake planted by Strickler. Normura had also come to kidnap Jim, albeit she failed. Really, that night had been very eventful. 

Jim soon found himself thinking about all of the strange yet good things that had happened before everything had gone downhill. Well, he didn’t exactly know when things went really downhill. If anything, Jim had to say that the thing that had made everything go downhill was Bular telling Jim that Strickler was one of the people trying to kill him. That was when everything had really started to turn bad. Well, Jim already knew that Strickler was trying to kill him so it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Wait, did that mean that everything was already going downhill then? Jim shook his head, that was just crazy if it was. He hadn’t even met Bular yet, then would be an appropriate time for Jim to worry. Jim didn’t even know if anyone else remembered what had happened before; even if it was just Gunmar (and probably Merlin) that knew, he could easily tell Bular that Jim was from the future. Gunmar could tell Bular about how the human Trollhunter had killed him. 

Jim thought it would probably be nearly impossible for Gunmar to remember - or for anyone other than Jim himself and Merlin. Merlin had been the one who had sent Jim through time so, of course, the wizard knew, and Jim had been the one to make the request to be sent through time. So, unless Morgana somehow found out and told Gunmar or anyone else, the only people who knew Jim was from the future was himself and Merlin. Jim had no intention of telling anyone that he was from the future, that would just lead to questions about why Jim had gone back in time; although, it might be obvious why. The Trollhunter had failed in defeating Gunmar but instead of dying and letting Gunmar win the battle altogether, Jim had gone through time to get another chance. Jim had a feeling that that would just lead to the question about why he had failed against Gunmar though. Jim, if the secret did get out about him being from the future, didn’t want to tell his friends that they had all died. 

Jim hadn’t even noticed how late it was becoming until he heard Toby’s voice from the top of the canal, only barely being able to see Toby from where the sun was. It would be night soon enough but it was dark enough that the trolls could leave Trollmarket. Which also meant that it was dark enough that Bular might be able to find Jim. Jim knew better than to wish that that wouldn’t happen and then jinx it. Instead, Jim wished it that Bular  _ did  _ come, that way it would do the opposite. 

“Jimbo!” Toby yelled from the top of the canal, waving his hand towards Jim. Toby had biked all the way from wherever he had been (probably either his house of the dentist office, speaking of which, Jim was going to have to do something about the changeling assistant; hopefully not kill this time, Jim hadn’t liked killing anyone that he didn’t have to) all the way to the canal, which meant that Toby nearly past Jim on his way down. “Jimbo! Jimbo! Jimbo!” Toby chanted as he hopped off of his bike, placing it near the side of the canal. “You said you had something important to tell me, is it about that talking amulet thing we found here?” 

Jim smiled slightly at the antics that Toby had just done, pushing himself up off the ground as he did so. The amulet was still safely in Jim’s pocket, so he did have proof if Toby wanted Jim to show off the armor. “Okay,” Jim started, raising his hands slightly, “this is going to sound kind of crazy but, last night, these trolls-”

“Trolls?” Toby interrupted, “As in the internet kind of trolls or the little doll toys that people had as kids?” 

Okay, so Toby was going to be as hard to tell the truth to as he had the first time around. Jim shook his head. “Neither.” Jim answered. “They were about six feet or taller or something but they were taller than the doorway so that’s saying something, and they’re made of stone. Anyways, the trolls came to my house last night and told me,” Jim fished his hand into his pocket, pulling out the Amulet of Daylight, “what this was.”

“Well,” Toby inched forward, trying to get a better look at the amulet, “what is it?” 

Jim let out a soft laugh. “I was getting there, Tobes.” It was nice to see Toby excited, even if Jim wasn’t particularly excited about this. “You know those magical girl shows where they get some sort of object that, when they say some strange sentence, let’s them have magical abilities?” Toby just gave Jim a confused expression but seemed to understand. “Well, it’s like that. But instead of getting magical abilities, I get magical armor that reacts to my emotions and a sword.” That was really the best way Jim could explain what the amulet really did. 

“Okay?” Toby dragged out. “So, you’re like a superhero?” Toby’s face lit up with excitement once more. “That’s so cool! Wait, does that mean you’re a troll prince or something?” 

Jim blinked. “What? No!” Jim was going to have to explain how the passing of the amulet worked, didn’t he? Jim brought in a sigh. “The amulet chooses the person to be the Trollhunter - which would now be me, I guess - after the previous one,” Jim paused, his voice getting quiet, “dies.” 

Toby’s eyes widened and his arms went limp at his side. “Wait, hold on, the previous Troll Knight-”

“Trollhunter.”

“-Trollhunter died?” Toby questioned, a flash of concern breaking through the excitement. “That-that doesn’t mean you could die, right?” 

“That could happen, yes.” Jim jumped. Blinky (and probably Aaarrrgghh as well) had left Trollmarket and found Jim and Toby talking outside of the canal, allowing Blinky to join in the conversation. Toby, rightfully, screamed. “But,” Blinky continued, “we will train hard so that Master Jim here does not die a very slow and painful death.” Oh great, does that mean Jim was going to die quickly then? 

“Blinky!” Jim yelled out in surprise, “A little warning next time, please?” 

“Ah,” Blinky quieted down, “I suppose that could be the reason your friend there is screaming then?” 

“Jim,” Toby started with a shake in his voice, “please tell me you know that one.” Toby’s arm, shaking just like the rest of his body, pointed behind Blinky. 

Jim, turning around slowly believing it only to be the somewhat scary looking Aaarrrgghh, was surprised to see that Bular had decided to join the conversation as well. Although, all he had to add was a rather loud roar. “Trollhunter.” Well, Jim’s wish had come true.

“Oh no.”

“Yes, I believe that would be an appropriate reaction to him,” Blinky supplied as he turned around to face the Gumm-Gumm troll as well, “I also suggest that you don the armor now, Master Jim.” Blinky didn’t need to tell Jim twice to do that.

That was when the running began. Bular was too close to the entrance to Trollmarket for Blinky or Aaarrrgghh to open it without the Gumm-Gumm getting in Trollmarket as well, so the next best bet was running away for their lives. At least, to run away enough for Bular to not be so close to Trollmarket. Jim could hold Bular off long enough that the other three could escape to Trollmarket and then yank Jim in like they had done before; Jim might even last longer than he had now, he had defeated Bular in battle (although, Aaarrrgghh had been the one to kill him). 

“For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” Jim eventually yelled out when he realized that the armor hadn’t conjured itself yet. Really, Jim had been able to conjure the armor wordlessly a couple of times before but not now? Not when he kind of needed the amulet the most? Wow, thanks Merlin. Thankfully, the armor had no trouble keeping up with Jim as he ran. “Blinky,” Jim called out to his trainer - er - soon-to-be-trainer, “is there anywhere we can go to get away from him?” 

Blinky almost didn’t answer for a full minute (or what felt like it, it was probably only a couple of seconds. Running away for your life kind of makes you think time has been going faster, Jim certainly learned that in the Darklands with everyone else). “There is Trollmarket but he is currently standing between us and the doorway!” Blinky exclaimed, almost loud enough the Jim was sure that Bular (who was hopefully a good five feet behind them) was able to hear. 

Jim, upon summoning Daylight, used the blade to see Bular’s reflection. The Gumm-Gumm troll was a good space between the door to Trollmarket now that Jim would be able to spare some time for his friends to get through. “Head for the doorway, I’ll take care of Bular!” 

Blinky shot Jim a worried look full of disbelief. “Master Jim, you haven’t even had a lick of training yet! You are no match for Bular, you’ll be torn to shreds!” Jim was almost about to yell out that he hadn’t been the first time he had fought Bular, before remembering that that technically would be now. Jim was kind of sad that Blinky didn’t really believe that Jim could distract Bular long enough for them to get into Trollmarket. 

Jim heard Bular laugh behind him. “Even your trainer doesn’t believe in you.” 

Jim felt - what seemed like - a growl escape his lips. “Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Tobes, go! I’ll be fine!” 

“Do you see that guy, Jimbo? He has two swords, two! You only have one!” Wow, even Toby was trying to talk Jim out of it. Well, Jim did realize that he hadn’t already defeat Bular before now, and Toby barely even knew anything about trolls. 

“I’ll be fine!” Jim repeated, branching off from where the other three were heading. If everyone just kept running forward, they would eventually run out of canal to run in. “Come on, Bular, your fight is with me,” Jim muttered to himself as he watched said troll move directions to chase after Jim. 

Jim ignored the calls from Toby and Blinky as Bular ran after him; the three of them needed to get to Trollmarket, not worry about Jim. Jim had gone up against Bular three times before now and had escaped with his life every time (even defeating Bular on the third time), now would probably be no different. If it had just turned night, Jim might even have thought that he could defeat Bular right now but, ultimately, it had been the sun that had killed Bular (and Aaarrrgghh with punching him). 

Right now, it felt as if Jim was in a game of cat and mouse, and - unfortunately - Jim was the mouse. Bular followed Jim up the side of the canal and out of it, giving the other three time to get to the door to Trollmarket, but that also meant that there were bound to be trees that got in the way of Jim’s endless running. That also meant that Bular had less room to move, but he could always just break the trees down and toss them away. Really, running into the forest hadn’t done much to help Jim in terms of battle. What running into the forest had really done was given Jim more areas to hide. 

Jim had no intention of fully fighting Bular right now, he had no idea what going back in time had really done to his body other than the scared rock that proudly shouted ‘Hey, look at me!’ if Jim took off his shirt. There was no telling if Jim had kept the strength he had gotten from all of those late night training sessions, not to mention the strength he had gotten when Merlin had changed him into a half-troll. That was really the whole reason Jim wanted to go to training before meeting up with Toby, to see what going back in time had really done. Jim supposed he could have done it earlier, but he really just wasn’t thinking about it at the time. 

Jim, eventually, couldn’t hear Bular trailing behind him. Which either meant that Bular had given up (unlikely) or that he had lost Jim in the forest. 

“I’ll flay the flesh from your bones!” Or Bular had somehow gotten faster than Jim and had, now, jumped out in front of him with dual swords drawn. 

Jim didn’t have very much time to react to Bular now being in front of him, in fact, Jim had no way he could avoid the attack from Bular. Thank goodness Jim had armor on, the way Bular had swung his swords hadn’t hit Jim like Gunmar’s blade did but it did send Jim flying. The armor had protected Jim from the worst of the swing, although, hitting the tree probably hurt more than it would have had Jim not been in armor. It was still going to leave a pretty big bruise. 

Jim didn’t have any time to rest before Bular would be back for another swing, so he got up quickly, re-summoning Daylight as he did so (do you know how hard it is to run with a giant sword in your hands? It’s not very easy, that’s for sure). Hopefully Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, and Toby had been able to get to the doorway to Trollmarket while Jim was out distracting Bular. Hopefully they hadn’t followed him now that Jim thought about it. 

Jim headed back to the canal, surely now was enough time that Blinky had gotten the door to Trollmarket open. 

Unfortunately, the door to Trollmarket was not open. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jim muttered to himself as he slid down the side of the canal. Jim cupped his hands over his mouth. “Open the door!”

“Master Jim, you are still very much alive!”

“Jimbo, that giant troll didn’t kill you!”

Jim frowned. “Wow, good to know you two believe in my abilities to hold myself in a fight.” Jim mentally started to count how many times he had been in a fight before now and had gotten out alive. He didn’t know if the fight against Gunmar that had caused this would count so he didn’t count that one at all, not even for half a point because he went back in time and thus so survived. Would that even count as surviving? Jim shook his head, right now was not the time to question time. “We should really get this door open before Bular gets back. I lost him in the woods, kind of.” 

Blinky gave Jim a confused look. “How does one only kind of lose someone of that size in the woods?” He asked as he handed Aaarrrgghh the horngazel. 

Toby quickly grabbed onto Jim’s shoulder, turning him around to face the other side of the canal. “I think a better question would be how to lose someone of that size in a canal!” Bular was back and looked as angry as ever. 

Thankfully, Jim didn’t have to practice more track and field for Blinky ushered Jim and Toby through the tunnel that lead to Trollmarket. The tunnel closed soon after the four of them were through, unless Bular had a horngazel, there was no way he was getting in. Jim finally had a chance to breathe after that, wow, that was a lot more action compared to the previous days of only gym class. Jim, sort of, missed it. Well, that probably happens when you fight Bular, Angor Rot, and a bunch of monsters in the Darklands for months on end (thankfully not everyday but Jim was always paranoid that they would attack him at school or at home so he constantly stayed alert). Rule number one of being a Trollhunter really came in handy some days.  

“Okay,” Toby started when everything seemed to finally be going calm as the four of them rested at the top of the stairs, “now that everything’s calmish, can someone explain what the heck just happened? Other than, you know, Jim running after a giant, evil troll!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the only thing that popped into my head when i was trying to figure out how to explain the Trollhunter without using the word Trollhunter was magical girl, i am sorry. 
> 
> on another note, Bular was in the canal a day before Jim and Toby originally met him because - since Bular doesn't know who the Trollhunter is - he's been roaming the canals to see if the new Trollhunter goes there again. boy, did Bular get lucky. 
> 
> also, while i was writing this chapter, i kept jumping between this and another Trollhunters work i'm working on. i'm really excited for the new one (although, i do need to work on working on only one work at a time) but i won't be posting it until i've got, at least, 14k words prewritten for it (the word count for this when i started it). i'm not going to give anything away but the title is going to be 'Deceitful.' go ahead and guess if you want, i wonder if anyone will come close to the actual thing. 
> 
> (btw, Deceitful might come out in earlyish February :3)
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


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